Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 31, 1992 TAG: 9201310260
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE TENNIS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
GUITARIST DECIDES TO GO FOR IT ALL
Blues-rock guitarist Gibb Droll's career turned around eight months ago with a vision: At 22, he had grown old and boring because he had never chased his dream."I just decided that life was way too short to be 40 years old and thinking, `God gave me my hands, and I didn't use them,' " he said in a recent interview.
So, almost on a whim, Droll quit his job as manager of a surf and skate shop in Virginia Beach and started staging blues jams on Tuesday nights at a club called Dough Boy's. Soon, his six-string scream helped folks around town rediscover the blues.
Along the way, the part-time singer found the components he needed to form the ultimate trio: drummer Mike Williams, 34, formerly of Left Wing Fascists, and bassist Tom Hall, 27.
Tonight, Droll's band plays at Bailey's in Radford at 1033 Norwood St. Saturday, it will perform in at The Copa at Chef Santos at 3121 Franklin Road in Roanoke. Both shows start at 9:30 p.m., with a $4 cover.
A guitar player since age 10, Droll talks modestly about his playing abilities. "If I could hit one note all night and make people happy, that would be all right. . . . I just know when I close my eyes and play I feel good."
He grew up in Winchester, listening to blues greats like Elmore James, B.B. King and Johnny Winter. After moving to Virginia Beach a decade ago, he formed The Killing Thyme, rocking seaside hangouts like Artz and The Elbow Room until the trio split a year ago.
These days, Droll is racing to colleges, clubs and frat parties up and down the East Coast with a set list full of 10 originals and three dozen classics from guys like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.
The musician calls "People," a reflection on the Holocaust, his most dynamic original. "It really just says how lame that whole scene was."
Droll wrote the song one night in his car on the side of the highway after getting worked up during a class discussion at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach.
When playing covers, the band likes to take some liberties, Droll said. "We don't like to cover stuff the way it was."
One highlight of the band's set is a smoking rendition of Hendrix's sentimental "Little Wing" merged into Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" by a layer of feedback.
Besides distortion, Droll's primary guitar effect is a wah-wah pedal, used on songs like the almost-forgotten Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Needle and the Spoon."
Droll says his show is a melting pot for old riffs and new rhythms. "What I'm aiming to do is put something out there that you don't hear: the raw blues, but with a funky '90s version that you can dance to. . . . What I want to do is take it a step further, if I can."
Gibb Droll: Tonight at Bailey's. 1033 Norwood St., Radford, 639-2249. Saturday, The Copa at Chef Santos, 3121 Franklin Road S.W. in Roanoke, 345-2222. Both shows start at 9:30 p.m.: $4 cover.